It often occurs when fishing from the beach, wading in the surf, or from the bank of a river or lake, that a fisherman wants to keep bait in the water but be able to do something else for a while. To this end, fishing rod holders of various type have been proposed and made, the simplest of is a length of PVC tubing which can be pushed into the ground or fastened to the bumper of a truck.
A more sophisticated type of fishing rod holder includes some means for detecting when a fish has taken the bait. It is to this class of fishing rod holders that this invention most nearly relates. Typical devices are shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,010,239; 3,453,767; 3,945,143; 4,334,377; 4,510,709; 4,677,784; 5,058,308 and 5,495,688. Another disclosure of interest is found in U.S. Pat. No. 1,752,397.